The Natural Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 I was kind of disappointed by Barry Smith's second run on Conan the Barbarian after they announced he was leaving the book. He struggled to keep up with the deadlines and ended up doing a lot of breakdowns. Gil Kane did the fill-in issues between Smith's two stints. Opinion was divided in the letter column over Kane's work, but personally I thought it was much better than Smith's second run. I recently finished Omega the Unknown. I'm not a huge fan of Steve Gerber, but as far as deconstructionist takes on the superhero genre go, I think his unfinished run on Omega pretty much encapsulates the heart and soul of what he was trying to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnatural Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 I dipped out on Marvel some years back and am looking to get back into the saddle based on some mind blowing reviews of War of Realms that I read. Now my last stint around, Jasoon Aaron had wrapped up the God butcher arc, Garth Ennis wrapped up the Punisher Max run, and I felt that they ended on such highs I (stupidly) stopped following Thor missing out on all the goodies. Then I hear about Absolute Carnage, which I freaking loved the original Maximum Carnage so I read about this whole lead up starting with Venom that builds to the Carnage arc. And then I also read how the God butcher's blade was tied to the symbiotes and holy cow, "Lucy! I got some reading to do!" So question for anyone up to speed on the various Marvel titles, please. What do I need to catch up on to get into War of the Realms, Absolute Carnage, and seemingly this King in Black/Heroes Reborn stuff? Coming in blind what arcs and tpb's would you all suggest please? Those two seem to be what I'd like to focus on, and also by the way is the Old Man Logan/Quill/Hawkeye stuff any good? Do they tie in together or can I pick and choose which arcs to follow? Thanks in advance from a lapsed fan looking to climb back into the funny books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eoae Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 I haven't been following the Carnage/Venom books all that closely right now so I'm not sure what ties in to what (besides Cates' Venom book, obviously). But definitely read the rest of Aaron's Thor run. I enjoyed Aaron's run a lot more after Jane Foster took up the mantle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Scott and Jean in old costumes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 3 hours ago, Hayabusa said: What do I need to catch up on to get into War of the Realms, Absolute Carnage, and seemingly this King in Black/Heroes Reborn stuff? Coming in blind what arcs and tpb's would you all suggest please? For War of Realms basically go back from where you left off in Thor after the God Butcher arc and read on. You will eventually hit the War Realms as that is the major climax to Aaron's Thor run. Didn't read the symbiote stuff, but I believe most of it spawns from Cates' Venom books and Silver Surfer: Black. Heroes Reborn is about Aaron's Avengers run. You can pretty much just start from his first issue on Avengers. It is probably best to read Aaron's run of Thor through Jane Foster before starting Avengers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSJ Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 8 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said: I was kind of disappointed by Barry Smith's second run on Conan the Barbarian after they announced he was leaving the book. He struggled to keep up with the deadlines and ended up doing a lot of breakdowns. Gil Kane did the fill-in issues between Smith's two stints. Opinion was divided in the letter column over Kane's work, but personally I thought it was much better than Smith's second run. I recently finished Omega the Unknown. I'm not a huge fan of Steve Gerber, but as far as deconstructionist takes on the superhero genre go, I think his unfinished run on Omega pretty much encapsulates the heart and soul of what he was trying to do. Really hard to compare anything to Smith's initial run on Conan. I thought it so good at the time that I had issues 1-10 bound in a hardcover volume (which I wish I still had), it showed up at Comic-Con some thirty years ago and the dealer who had it was asking a ridiculous amount of money for it. Not too ridiculous as apparently it sold... Trouble was that Smith set the bar so high with his initial run that not only could he not match what he'd done, even John Freakin' Buscema couldn't compare. When you've set the bar so high that John Buscema can't hit it, you're in pretty rarefied air. Never really got into Omega, but Gerber's Howard the Duck and Defenders I rank among the all-time classics, great, great stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin877 Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 4 hours ago, Hayabusa said: I dipped out on Marvel some years back and am looking to get back into the saddle based on some mind blowing reviews of War of Realms that I read. Now my last stint around, Jasoon Aaron had wrapped up the God butcher arc, Garth Ennis wrapped up the Punisher Max run, and I felt that they ended on such highs I (stupidly) stopped following Thor missing out on all the goodies. Then I hear about Absolute Carnage, which I freaking loved the original Maximum Carnage so I read about this whole lead up starting with Venom that builds to the Carnage arc. And then I also read how the God butcher's blade was tied to the symbiotes and holy cow, "Lucy! I got some reading to do!" So question for anyone up to speed on the various Marvel titles, please. What do I need to catch up on to get into War of the Realms, Absolute Carnage, and seemingly this King in Black/Heroes Reborn stuff? Coming in blind what arcs and tpb's would you all suggest please? Those two seem to be what I'd like to focus on, and also by the way is the Old Man Logan/Quill/Hawkeye stuff any good? Do they tie in together or can I pick and choose which arcs to follow? Thanks in advance from a lapsed fan looking to climb back into the funny books. Not sure if it is your thing or not, but you can definitely catch up on a lot of these storylines and runs through Marvel Unlimited. I swear by it when reading big chunks of stories and such. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnatural Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Eoae, Eivion and Justin877 thanks all Been a big fan of these guys going back to Mastersons arc before the Thunderstrike spinoff, Venom with the Spirits of Venom/Funeral Pyre stories (all 90s arcs) and I dipped out prematurely it seems like, so yeah I'm getting ready to dive back in and appreciate the info everyone Now to ask about recommendations if anyone has some free time possible for recommendations. Absolutely LOVED the Ennis run on Punisher during the Marvel Knights/Max eras, and the Brubaker Punisher with that one soldier who lost her husband and became Punishella(TM Spiderman ) was another favorite just before I dropped Marvel titles For someone who's been out a bit are there any titles close to those runs that might be recent/anything from say the past 6 or 7 years? I stopped reading Marvel before Angela became Thor/Lokis sister, before the Unworthy arc, so anything from around then to now, and it doesn't need to be Punisher only but anything that feels "epic" or "solid" along the lines of the grittiness from Ennis/Brubakers' runs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Brubaker's Cap has a 70s feel to it, so it might be gritty. Same with the Fraction/Brubaker Iron Fist. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 I thought the current Black Panther in space epic run had a sort of 70s feel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 On 1/26/2021 at 9:48 AM, Matt D said: https://www.marvel.com/characters/x-men-vote It's a tough call. Hickman does great stuff with Sunspot (to the extent that'll probably be my pick) but Boom Boom is pretty much the most consistently entertaining character in the MU. She, Sam, and Bobby all have a home in New Mutants already though, and Guido is persona non grata. Banshee is a character I like but I feel like they'd have to trudge through a lot of baggage (even with this version of X-Men that's set up to avoid at least some of that) given that he died and was a zombie or a horseman before that or whatever. I actually really like Tempo as a character back from her reluctant MLF days but she hasn't had character development in 30 years. I'm still catching up on the books, but I'd probably vote Boomer. Been a fan ever since she got manipulated by Sabretooth a billion years ago, when he was pretending to be a wounded animal. I've been catching up on all the X-books. When covid hit I stopped collecting and now I'm grabbing everything I missed out on. I'm almost up to X of Swords. Some of the books have been frustrating because the ideas are cool but the execution is either rushed or lacks impact. But the entire Krakoan concept and some of the world building has been great. Surprised I like the CABLE book, because I didn't know shit about the teen version of the character. But it's fun. Hellions is silly but at least it knows what it wants and executes it. Really like X-Factor and the Mojoverse stuff. I think it instantly became one of the better team books after the first issue. I was instantly onboard with the characters and how they interacted with one another. Marauders is probably my favorite overall. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Post X of Swords, New Mutants has been pretty strong. Vita Ayala is taking a really comprehensive view of the characters. I'm not going to say that you need to know 35 years of X-history to understand it, but it's being written as if the characters have been affected by almost everything that's happened to them. It got them to the point where they are now. And it's a little easier with the New Mutants because while they all have hundreds of issues, they don't necessarily have thousands like the main X-Characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Hayabusa said: For someone who's been out a bit are there any titles close to those runs that might be recent/anything from say the past 6 or 7 years? I stopped reading Marvel before Angela became Thor/Lokis sister, before the Unworthy arc, so anything from around then to now, and it doesn't need to be Punisher only but anything that feels "epic" or "solid" along the lines of the grittiness from Ennis/Brubakers' runs? Did you ever read Remender's X-Force? Hickman's Avengers? The current Immortal Hulk from Al Ewing it also pretty damn good. Edited January 29, 2021 by Eivion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnatural Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Odessasteps thank you for the reminder about Brubaker Cap. I had that arc and loved the heck out of it, I'll have to get it again. Didn't get to catch the Iron Fist one but I'm adding it with the other recommendations, thank you Matt D, now Black Panther in space sounds like a great time. Some of my favorite 90s arcs involved the space side of things, titles like Infinity Watch and the Operation Galactic Storm crossover. I'll be adding that one also, appreciate it Eivion - I think the only Remender I've read is his punisher run, but xforce is always a favorite so I'll be adding that, and I missed the Avengers by Hickman but heard great stuff so I'll be sure to add it too. And damn the reviews for that Immortal Hulk, I'm peeved I slept on so much great stuff for so long, I thought after Ennis and Aaron it couldn't get any better but clearly I was way off the mark. Thank you all a bunch, some great recommends here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Polaris is in the lead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 So I'm pretty exclusively only reading female series - still making my way through G. Willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel run, have the first collected volume of Saladin Ahmed's Magnificent Ms. Marvel waiting for me on my shelf, and grabbed the first volume of Black Cat's series too. Any suggestions on what to add to my backlog? Like I said, female led series only pretty much - and collected omnibus/volumes are my jam, really. More bang for my buck. I don't know if it's even been talked about here, but I really liked the Black Cat series - what I've read so far, anyway. Still can't really find anything that's hit me the same way Wilson's Ms. Marvel did, though. That first issue really touched me in a way I can't really describe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 Chelsea Cain's Mockingbird. The two recent new Wasp series. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) On 1/31/2021 at 11:51 AM, Casey said: So I'm pretty exclusively only reading female series - still making my way through G. Willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel run, have the first collected volume of Saladin Ahmed's Magnificent Ms. Marvel waiting for me on my shelf, and grabbed the first volume of Black Cat's series too. Any suggestions on what to add to my backlog? Like I said, female led series only pretty much - and collected omnibus/volumes are my jam, really. More bang for my buck. I don't know if it's even been talked about here, but I really liked the Black Cat series - what I've read so far, anyway. Still can't really find anything that's hit me the same way Wilson's Ms. Marvel did, though. That first issue really touched me in a way I can't really describe. I'd recommend Spider-Gwen and The Mighty Thor. The above book collects Spider-Gwen's debut in Edge of Spider-Verse #2, all of Spider-Gwen (Vol. 1) #1-5 and the opening arc of Spider-Gwen (Vol. 2) #1-6. One for @JLSigman xxx. For The Mighty Thor, you start with: From there you read in the following order: Thor: Who Holds The Hammer?, Mighty Thor: Thunder in her Veins, Mighty Thor: Lords of Midgard, Mighty Thor: The Asgard/Shi'ar War, Mighty Thor: The War Thor and Mighty Thor: The Death of the Mighty Thor. Hope this helps, @Casey! Edited February 1, 2021 by The Natural 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Like the new Black Widow (2020) series written by Kelly Thompson and drawn by Elena Casagrande. I'd also recommend Black Widow (2014) written by Nathan Edmondson and drawn by Phil Noto, @Casey. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eoae Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) On 1/31/2021 at 6:51 AM, Casey said: So I'm pretty exclusively only reading female series - still making my way through G. Willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel run, have the first collected volume of Saladin Ahmed's Magnificent Ms. Marvel waiting for me on my shelf, and grabbed the first volume of Black Cat's series too. Any suggestions on what to add to my backlog? Like I said, female led series only pretty much - and collected omnibus/volumes are my jam, really. More bang for my buck. Are you open to DC? 'Cause if you are, Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman runs (two of them) and Peter David's Supergirl series seem like no-brainers to me. The Rucka runs are collected in tpb and a reprint omnibus series. Most of the Supergirl series was never collected. DC started to reprint it in trades a few years back but stopped after 3 or 4 volimes (think they covered 30+ issues out of 80 or 81). I'd also recommend Madame Xanadu. Book was published under DC's Vertigo imprint, I think, but she's an obscure DC Universe character. Great writing by Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder's art was superb. Not quite your typical superherobook, but one of my favorite series of the past 20 years. Edit: Also the Matt Fraction/David Aja Hawkeye series, though, from what I remember, Kate Bishop is more of a co-lead with Clint Barton, so that may not quite be what you're looking for. Edited February 1, 2021 by Eoae 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) Heroes Reborn 1 to 4 covers The solictions for the 4 are on sites. Blade is the only Vampire left on Earth, Immortal Hulk is Hyperion foe. Edited February 1, 2021 by D.Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Aaron's Avengers run has been problematic at best. There was a relatively early issue (though it may have been as late as issue 13) where he laid everything out in one issue and it was pretty exciting, but everything is just taking too long. The Squadron has been in the background for ages. Either every arc should be an issue less or some things (like the ancient Avengers) should have been pushed to a side book/limited series or the book should have been shipping twice as much. COVID didn't help but I don't think you can pin this on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 Big spoiler alert for Avengers #42 and a development for Thor. https://bleedingcool.com/comics/major-spoilers-avengers-42-thor-history/ Spoiler I'm a recent reader of Thor starting with Walter Simonson's awesome run and going onto Jason Aaron. I thought in the comics that Freya/Frigga was always Thor's Mum as she is in Marvel Studios Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hasn't gone down well at the CBR forum. Actually got a PM from someone who has sent it to others saying we should spam Aaron's Twitter for doing what he's done. Said poster is banned now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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